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Stupid/goofy dialogues in video games

cosmicblizzard said:
The repeating thing is an actual Japanese language convention, but I can never remember the name. It's supposed to show you're paying attention or something.
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Aizuchi

Wikipedia said:
Aizuchi (Japanese: 相槌 or あいづち, IPA: [aizu͍t͡ɕi]) is the Japanese term for frequent interjections during a conversation that indicate the listener is paying attention and/or understanding the speaker. In linguistic terms, these are a form of phatic expression. Aizuchi are considered reassuring to the speaker, indicating that the listener is active and involved in the discussion.
...
Aizuchi can also take the form of so-called echo questions, which consist of a noun plus "desu ka". After Speaker A asks a question, Speaker B may repeat a key noun followed by "desu ka" to confirm what Speaker A was talking about or simply to keep communication open while Speaker B thinks of an answer. A rough English analog would be "A ..., you say?", as in: "So I bought this new car"; reply: "A car, you say?".
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Aizuchi is a very common thing in Japan and not America, which is why localizations of games including such conversations sound weird and redundant to non Japanese players.
 
Lionel Richie said:
There's a part in Valkyria Chronicles
where Faldio shoots your waifu. You then investigate and learn that it could only have been him. You get mad as fuck and then looking for your best friend you find a note he wrote where he very explicity admits doing so and then explain the reason for that extensively.

Later, you confront him and ASK HIM IF HE SHOT HER. Not satisfied with that, you ask WHY HE DID IT.

What the fuck is up with Japan and redundant dialogues? Any more examples of that?
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Isn't it possible that
some enemy could've written the note to cover his tracks? Or forced your friend to shoot her and write that note in order to drive a rift between the two of you? Seems like a good reason to ask about it instead of taking miscellaneous notes at face value...
 
UncleSporky said:
Isn't it possible that
some enemy could've written the note to cover his tracks? Or forced your friend to shoot her and write that note in order to drive a rift between the two of you? Seems like a good reason to ask about it instead of taking miscellaneous notes at face value...
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Yeah I think the reason why
Welkin asked Faldio was because he trusted Faldio like a close friend and didn't want to believe he was capable of doing what he did, even though he wrote it down. It's naive and doesn't really fit his more mature character at that point in the game but it's not stupid. Just somewhat hard to believe that he could never imagine Faldio as a "villain for the cause"
 
219392-resident_evil_ps_super.jpg


/thread
 
I've been replaying FFX lately. There are a bunch of problems with the dialogue, writing and technical, due to the translation and I suppose having to compress dialogue to fit with the lip syncing as best as possible. Yuba is the worst example of this. And many times it sounds like they were simply reading a script and had no one to else in the room to speak to or were given poor direction as to what is happening in the scene.

The latest example of this from the last time I booted up the game was just after the fight with Seymour in Mt. gagazet. Here you have an important moment with Tidus talking about his father and he can't resist calling him his "old man" over and over. Calling him that before totally fits his character, but in a key, somber moment in the story just sounds so out of place.
 
UncleSporky said:
Isn't it possible that
some enemy could've written the note to cover his tracks? Or forced your friend to shoot her and write that note in order to drive a rift between the two of you? Seems like a good reason to ask about it instead of taking miscellaneous notes at face value...
Click to expand...

I guess
but how would the enemies infiltrate the base, steal the rifle Faldio checked out personally in his own name, write a note with many details that Welkin knew Faldio was aware of and leave the note a spot Faldio had recently been?
 
Leunam said:
I've been replaying FFX lately. There are a bunch of problems with the dialogue, writing and technical, due to the translation and I suppose having to compress dialogue to fit with the lip syncing as best as possible. Yuba is the worst example of this. And many times it sounds like they were simply reading a script and had no one to else in the room to speak to or were given poor direction as to what is happening in the scene.

The latest example of this from the last time I booted up the game was just after the fight with Seymour in Mt. gagazet. Here you have an important moment with Tidus talking about his father and he can't resist calling him his "old man" over and over. Calling him that before totally fits his character, but in a key, somber moment in the story just sounds so out of place.
Click to expand...

FFX has a lot of dialogue issues. It feels like a game written for reading like FF7-9, but then they added voice acting which just doesn't work out quite the same.

I remember there was this one story scene where there was an important blitzball game that was interrupted by Yuna being kidnapped. You fight a battle, and afterward there's this bit of dialogue:

Lulu: Don't tell Wakka about
Yuna's lineage. The thing about Wakka--he never had much love for the Al Bhed.
Tidus: Whoa! I gotta tell Wakka!
Lulu: I thought I told you not to tell Wakka!

Tidus was referring to something else he was supposed to tell Wakka about, but the exchange feels so weird and hamfisted.
 
There's a line in Persona 4 that always stood out to me. (late game spoilers)
When you fight Adachi and he opens up by saying "I thought I could just leave you be but you're like a plague! I'll have to get rid of all of you!" And then Chie just blurts out "YOU'RE THE PLAGUE!"
It's like she tried so hard to think of a good comeback but just yelled the first thing that came into her head.
 
Leunam said:
I've been replaying FFX lately. There are a bunch of problems with the dialogue, writing and technical, due to the translation and I suppose having to compress dialogue to fit with the lip syncing as best as possible. Yuba is the worst example of this. And many times it sounds like they were simply reading a script and had no one to else in the room to speak to or were given poor direction as to what is happening in the scene.

The latest example of this from the last time I booted up the game was just after the fight with Seymour in Mt. gagazet. Here you have an important moment with Tidus talking about his father and he can't resist calling him his "old man" over and over. Calling him that before totally fits his character, but in a key, somber moment in the story just sounds so out of place.
Click to expand...

That is usually the case even for good video game localizations.
 
Never put Commander Shepard in charge of planning anything larger than a squad-level mission:

"This isn't about stategy or tactics. This is about survival."

"We fight or we die. That's the plan."

Eat that, Sun Tzu.
 
The goddamn entirety of Metroid: Other M. The TITLE alone is a stupid line of dialogue!

I also thought Layton VS Phoenix Wright was really redundant as well. Just repeating "Let's be careful", "Stay focused", "I'm sure it'll work out if we stick together!" from every character over and over whenever you enter a new room / screen.
 
the sole reason why i love japan and its games.

being edgy, goofy and cheezy as fuck.
its fucking intended, i think we europeans/americans will never learn this. trying to take everything too serious is our main problem.
 
Zoids Battle Legend had some hilariously weird dialogue, battle shouts like 'You! Go back to bed!' but I don't remember most of it and the game wasn't popular enough to be able to google any of the dialogue.

super-famicom said:
Aizuchi



Aizuchi is a very common thing in Japan and not America, which is why localizations of games including such conversations sound weird and redundant to non Japanese players.
Click to expand...

They should just localize it out of the game then, nothing is more annoying than those, they make any conversation drop dead boring.
 
I always felt Killzone 2 had some very bad dialogue...F bombs every other word, the other swear words filling in those gaps...to me it was just a bullet in a long list that I didn't care for regarding K2..
 
BrassDragon said:
Never put Commander Shepard in charge of planning anything larger than a squad-level mission:

"This isn't about stategy or tactics. This is about survival."

"We fight or we die. That's the plan."

Eat that, Sun Tzu.
Click to expand...

Thats not nearly as good as Shepard and Anderson throwing hissy fits at the Council over things like proof and evidence.
 
MrBadger said:
There's a line in Persona 4 that always stood out to me. (late game spoilers)
When you fight Adachi and he opens up by saying "I thought I could just leave you be but you're like a plague! I'll have to get rid of all of you!" And then Chie just blurts out "YOU'RE THE PLAGUE!"
It's like she tried so hard to think of a good comeback but just yelled the first thing that came into her head.
Click to expand...

That actually fits Chie. Not the quickest wit in Inaba.
 
Taruranto said:
I should have been the one to fill your dark soul with LIGHT!
Click to expand...

PS2 Rygar's "I swear victory to this feather!" is almost as corny.

Nyoro SF said:
999: Nine Persons etc. is a chief abuser of this. Many times you will hold a conversation, and many times Junpei will repeat word for fucking word what someone has just said to you or take the time to completely extrapolate the obviously implied. It is incredible.
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Japanese works like that. Localization would be more consistantly better in the present day, but too many want it as rote as possible.

HK-47 said:
That actually fits Chie. Not the quickest wit in Inaba.
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She speaks the most eloquently with her feet.
 
Shadow Hog said:
Sonic Heroes has such horrible dialog. I'm pretty sure "those Eggman's robots" is not legitimate grammar. Even if it is, it sounds way off. Doesn't help that the dialog is incessant throughout the entire stage - something they toned down for later games, but still, blegh.

Except for Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, which is somehow worse, apparently. I haven't played it, but their obsession with pointing out rings and bounce pads is downright patronizing.

I suppose Sonic Generations with its repeated "LOOKS LIKE A HOMING SHOT!" in the final boss was also pretty dumb, although that game was generally okay about that kind of shit.


No, but that one dude's right hand comes off, at least.
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I liked when Tails (whose voice actor for Heroes seems to be a 10-year-old with a life-threatening head cold) walks away from Sonic and Knuckles after a boss fight, realizes that they've been being duped all along ("It's *not* an Eggman robot...) then just runs back over to his friends, completely forgetting to ever share the critical plot point he'd just stumbled upon.

What the hell?
 
King Gilga said:
They should just localize it out of the game then, nothing is more annoying than those, they make any conversation drop dead boring.
Click to expand...
Definitely. One prominent example I can think of is "Metal Gear?!", but the weird thing is that I don't remember the first Metal Gear Solid being quite as egregious with having words repeated every other line, yet the following games are (notoriously) awful in that regard. It's like they gave up with trying to make any dialogue sound more natural and just went full Kojima.
 
Lionel Richie said:
What the fuck is up with Japan and redundant dialogues? Any more examples of that?
Click to expand...

It annoys me when someone is talking and usually the main character repeats the last word of the phrase the other person said so that person can keep talking. It's like the main character is stupid or something.
 
cosmicblizzard said:
The repeating thing is an actual Japanese language convention, but I can never remember the name. It's supposed to show you're paying attention or something.
Click to expand...

A spinoff from the aizuchi thing and the repeating-information thing: when characters will repeat their conversation partner's name over and over.

Jim: It was awful. As soon as we got back to camp, we saw blood everywhere...

Bob: Jim...

Jim: We had been attacked, and while some people got away...

Bob: Jim... that's...

Jim: ...there were horribly mangled bodies everywhere. All because... [breaks down in tears]

Bob: Jim!

Leunam said:
The latest example of this from the last time I booted up the game was just after the fight with Seymour in Mt. gagazet. Here you have an important moment with Tidus talking about his father and he can't resist calling him his "old man" over and over. Calling him that before totally fits his character, but in a key, somber moment in the story just sounds so out of place.
Click to expand...

It wouldn't surprise me if one of the Japanese directors, with pride in his English ability honed while on a three-month homestay in Winnipeg when he was 15, unilaterally decided that the Japanese word oyaji (a somewhat contemptuous word for 'father') must always be translated with the same English word. Chichi means "my father", papa and otōsan mean "dad", and oyaji means "old man"; no deviations allowed!

(Exhibit A: Metroid: Other M and "baby". Don't tell me that a native English speaker wrote that when "infant" would have been infinitely more natural most of the time.)

I'm a translator (though not generally of video games), and work is much more enjoyable when I know that there will not be a Japanese native going through my English with a finely-sharpened red pencil.
 
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